As a mass 9/11 truth coalition effort forms around a New York Times best selling novelist's upcoming action novel, a question forms as well. Why would REAL activists, researchers, and a whistleblower advocate an action fiction novel? Yes, "The Shell Game," by Steve Alten, is a novel with much to say about anti-war and 9/11 truth issues. But, how could "fiction" serve a movement pushing a hard reality?

Serious people interested in serious facts are among this coalition. People like David Ray Griffin (famed theological and more recently 9/11 truth author), Kevin Ryan (former UL chemistry laboratory manager & NIST report whistle blower), and vast international organizations such as 911Truth.org, and Pilots for 9/11 Truth, are included in this growing mass 9/11 truth coalition.

The answer to "why are real 9/11 truth activists (myself included), researchers, and a NIST whistleblower encouraging readership of a work of "fiction"?" lies partly in the clever construction of the unique work itself, but also partly in the history of social thought.

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"The Shell Game," is brilliant in many ways, and garnering such support for several reasons. It weaves a spell binding action fiction narrative about important issues like the lies that lead people into war, and false flag terrorism. But, it also cleverly weaves REAL quotes from real 9/11 researchers in as chapter introductions. The end result is the reader is lead to a knowing that 9/11 is NOT what they were told it is (see reviews at the end of this essay).

For example, two excerpts from the book, which serve as chapter heads, are:

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“Where was the military? General Richard Myers [Acting Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] and Mike Snyder [NORAD spokesperson] both said no military jets were sent up until after the strike on the Pentagon [9:38]. Yet American Airlines Flight 11 had shown two of the standard signs of hijacking at 8:15. This means that procedures that usually result in interception within ten or so minutes had not been carried out in eighty minutes. That enormous delay suggested that a stand-down order, canceling standard procedures, must have been given.”

– Professor David Ray Griffin,The 9/11 Commission’s Incredible Tales

“Over the course of two years [independent journalist Daniel] Hopsicker not only added information to what was known about [the 9/11 hijackers] military training, he established that some of the hijackers associated with wealthy Floridians had both intelligence and Bush family connections. Hopsicker also confirmed that within hours after the attacks, Florida Governor Jeb Bush had a military C-130 Hercules transport fly into the Venice [Florida] airport where a hastily loaded rental truck, filled with the records of Huffman Aviation – where Atta, Alshehri, and others had trained – was driven directly into the plane. The C-130 immediately took off for parts unknown.”

– Michael C. Ruppert, from Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil

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Another intelligent and meaningful tack of this novel, is that it begins in the minds of those buying the neo-con perspective, and then takes the reader on a journey that dis-assembles that "reality" along the way, exposing the reader to the ugly truth that many of us have known for years.

Fiction offers the average American "a safer way" to approach these bone crushing realities that 9/11 truth seekers have woken up to, enabling a massive action fiction fan base to be exposed to truths too big for them to handle by picking up a leaflet or documentary. Yet, once the door of their mind is jimmied open with action fiction, then the light offered by such leaflets and documentaries will find space to enter.

Throughout history fiction and cautionary tales have had profound impacts on people's thinking. Orwell's "1984" woke many of us up to the dangers of a totalitarian state. It helped many of us see through the lovely names the neo-cons gave to horrible programs. The film "V for Vendetta," has obviously affected many, as evidenced by 9/11 truth videos made using clips from that film, and also the Ron Paul campaign was given a gift of over $5 million in one day of fundraising on the "5th of November," the so-called "Guy Faulks Day," which was prominent in that film.

So, we see that fiction can be powerful. The growing interest in expanding readership of "The Shell Game," indicates that this very well may be one of those important works of fiction.

By William E. Douglas, Jr., who is author of "The Amateur Parent -- A Book on Life, Death, War & Peace, and Everything Else in the Universe." Bill has been a guest columnist for the Kansas City Star, The Business Journal, and other media worldwide. (more...)